The Bucks are rebuffing trade inquiries about Larry Sanders out of fear that they would be selling low, sources tell Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Stein nonetheless senses there’s a chance the team’s stance could change before the trade deadline. Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio reported late last month that the Bucks remained “very open” to trading Sanders, following up on his initial report in December, so the notion of his availability appears fluid.

The Poison Pill Provision would complicate any potential Sanders trade. He signed a four-year, $44MM rookie scale extension with the Bucks this past offseason, but it doesn’t kick in until next season. He makes $3.05MM this season, which would count as outgoing salary for the Bucks if they traded him, but his incoming salary figure for another team would count as $7.027MM, the average between his current payday and the average annual value of his extension.

Fellow ESPN scribe Chad Ford wrote this week in an Insider piece that the Bucks are looking for a first-rounder or a young player in deals for their veterans, but it sounds like they’re hesitant to give up too soon on Sanders, who’s in just his fourth season. Stein suggests the team is focused on building around Giannis Antetokounmpo and, to a lesser extent, John Henson, though it sounds like Sanders remains a part of Milwaukee’s plans, at least for now.

It’s waay too soon to say that Henson can’t stay healthy. He’s a good young player. He’s not as good as a healthy Bogut, but he can be a very productive player with Giannis, and a couple of very high lottery picks in the next two years such as a Wiggins and Embiid combination if Embiid stays in school and the Bucks get real lucky.

But if they can trade Sanders and even if they have to take on a bad contract for a late 1st rounder, they have to try and do it.

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